Kodu tutorials help kids prepare for game jam

A series of workshops held in Maryland aims to prepare children
for participation in an upcoming game jam by teaching them how to
use game design software.

The workshops make use of the Kodu software which is developed
by Microsoft as a visual programming language accessible to
children. It's an entirely icon-based language which runs on Xbox
and uses the game controller for input.

While perhaps not as flexible as traditional programming
languages, it's been designed to be more accessible and intuitive.
This particular set of workshops makes use of a tutorial devised at
the DeVry University in Illinois.

The point is to get kids started on game design early -- this
particular initiative is intended to ready the children for a game
jam in December. But as well as benefitting the children interested
in creating their own games, teaching them how to program and
getting them interested in related subjects could be important for
the local economy.

"It gets them more into the business of games," said Thurman
Jones, president of the Patriots Technology Training Centre in an
interview with Maryland's Gazette. "We want to get students involved with STEM
education so we can attract more high-tech firms to the
county."

Another benefit is that making game creation more accessible
benefits everyone. While not everyone will be a good game designer,
lowering the bar to entry means that those with interesting ideas
are better able to experiment and broaden the range of gaming
experiences available.

In terms of this game jam, Kodu is the choice, but if you're
interested in tinkering around with some ideas of your own you
might like to play with Stephen Lavelle's Puzzle Script which
lets you create neat puzzle levels with only rudimentary
knowledge.